Introducing Claire Gamache, spreading kindness through sewing much-needed PPE for midwives and healthcare workers.
What service are you offering in your community?
I have a group of volunteers, and we are all sewing PPE, everything from gowns and caps to masks. I started this about a month ago and have 250 volunteers now. I purchase all of the material using the money from my gofundme campaign. I go and get the fabric from Dressew. They don’t actually let anyone into the store except me. And then the owner delivers the fabric I buy. The gown fabric is made of ripstop nylon. This means it doesn’t rip and it’s water resistant. You have to surge or zig zag stitch so it closes off and doesn’t fray. We’ve had some gowns come back not that way, and unfortunately that means they are wasted or that I need to do it all, which can be frustrating.
I get it cut by a lady named Tina. She has a huge cutting machine and can cut 6 inches of fabric at once. It’s pretty cool to watch her do. I’ve never seen her physically doing it, but I’ve seen videos.
I usually deliver the final product, either the finished gowns or caps with buttons. Or I’ve had a few organizations pick them up at my work, some from the Downtown Eastside. Orders go all over the Lower Mainland. I’ve had gowns being shipped to Nelson. So that’s kind of cool to see. I was at a birth on Sunday and the midwife that was there was wearing my PPE. It was cool to see her wearing it in style.
I’ve distributed about 600 gowns and about 700 caps, and another few hundred caps are still in the community being sewn. We also have tons of masks out there and have donated a ton to the Downtown Eastside, with more coming in daily. Now we have a drop off/pick up bin at one of my volunteer’s houses. I prepare projects for everyone. So I pre-cut all the material, put it into bags with either the buttons or elastic or whatever people need, and then people pick it up. At the same time, they drop off an old finished project. And we just cycle through that way. Yesterday I filled the box up with over 30 caps and they were all gone this morning. The volunteer told me we need to get more as soon as possible because we’ve already run out.
It’s a lot of volunteers to deal with. I was actually personally doing all of the driving, picking up and dropping off before. I wouldn’t get home until 9pm. But now I have a couple of lovely assistants. One of them, Ryan, is doing all my background work, like catching up on emails and that sort of thing. And then Shannon is helping me finish off projects that aren’t finished, she organizes all the boxes. I organize pretty much everything else. But there’s so much help, it’s crazy! And they just started helping a few weeks ago. Ryan is actually the son of one of the volunteers, who has known me since I was a baby because she taught with my dad.
What inspired you to offer this service?
A midwife started it in my head because I’m a birth and postpartum doula. Also, my mom is a nurse. She runs home support for Vancouver Coastal Health and is a head nurse there. She was telling me how everyone is short of supplies, and midwives were telling me how they are short of supplies. I was hearing this from everyone, so I just started sewing. I just wanted to try and make a difference, to try at least. It just exploded from there!
How do you believe this particular service can help people? What are the benefits?
All around the world, people don’t have enough protective gear. ER doctors are looking for protective gear! Thankfully, we live in Canada and we don’t have that issue where ER doctors need to be looking for their own protection gear. Isn’t that just insane? Because you see this all around the world and others have it so much worse than we do, I just wanted to prepare as much as I could for the people that don’t have anything. Especially the midwives. Because I am part of the birth community, and I know that they don’t get many supplies. Vancouver Coastal Health and Fraser Health give them a few supplies, but in the whole scheme of things, it’s nothing. I wanted to make sure they could have what they needed to be safe and to go to birth. Because births were having to be cancelled and then people were giving birth by themselves at home! It was scary and sad. So I saw that and thought, that needs to change. I just wanted to make a difference, and it seems like it’s starting to at least.
Everyone seems to be really enjoying it. I think it’s also helping people feel useful because a lot of people are stuck at home doing nothing all day. So it’s giving them a purpose of being helpful in the community when they’re helpless. And the ability to help, even if it’s driving, is important. It’s a cool feeling, and I’ve had nothing but great response from people.
In the beginning, I felt very alone, except for my friend Savannah. She helped me a ton and has been a fantastic support. But my volunteers, especially Ryan and Shannon, have blown my mind with all the support that they’ve been giving me. I was running around like a chicken without a head before! Now I’m still doing it, but not as much.
We do have a few volunteers who are frustrating to deal with, but we put them on the back list. We have enough volunteers that we can just move on. In the end, it’s all great support and information. What got you into this activity? Why are you passionate about it?
I’m 21, and I’ve been sewing since I was 5. I do quilts, clothes, everything you could possibly think of. I also knit. I love it all!
When I get my brain on it, when I sit down and start sewing or knitting, I am very passionate about it, and it’s very much a hobby at the same time. Lately I’ve been sewing every single day, non-stop. Even at work. I work for Vancouver Coastal Health and organize all their PPE.
I go to work and I sew all day.
Why does kindness count?
In this sort of situation, I think everyone is stuck in their head. Kindness makes people feel useful. The kindness of all my volunteers giving that support to me, even things like saying, “You’re doing so well and I can’t believe you’re working so hard”. That is such a sweet thing to hear. Because I’m working my butt off.
But I also have all this great support from everyone. And the kindness and love and support that I’m getting is really changing me and how I think about the world. You always think, there’s people that are very self-centered, which there always will be. But there’s also people that are very sweet and just want to help. They just want to be there and do as much as they possibly can even if it’s not very much.
I didn’t think that this would explode like this and people would help this much. It’s crazy! One second I had 2 volunteers, the next second I had 20, the next second I had 100, 200, 250, and it just goes up. And those are just the emails that I’ve read. Ryan goes through the emails daily. He was doing that yesterday for 6 hours! In a way, this experience has renewed my faith in people.
Is kindness contagious?
It really is. Ryan and Shannon knew that I was struggling because I was so busy, but they also knew that if they could help out in any way that they could, then that would make me happy. And it has.
I’ve always had a hard time asking for help. I’m a very self-sufficient person. I keep busy, I work 7 days a week. I’ve owned my own business for the last 6 years. It’s all changed my perspective so now I can just ask for help. Yes, there’s always going to be the kind of people that aren’t as lovely, but my group of people are pretty awesome! I’m enjoying meeting new people, even if it’s from 6 feet apart. It’s nice to have little conversations with people. Even if they’re quick, it’s still nice to have that communication and make sure everyone is happy and doing well, and hear stories from people.
I find this is bringing the world more together. There’s tons of little communities. I have a friend who has a twelve year old daughter and they’ve started making masks. They have around 30 volunteers. It’s cool how it’s exploded. And now I’m sending some volunteers over to her because they’re making a ton of caps as well for hospitals. I source their material and deliver it to them for their project because I want to support them as much as possible, too.
How can people get involved with what you’re doing?
We always need more sewers. But at the same time, I can’t keep getting sewers if I don’t have enough financial support. The money is going to run out and soon, because fabric is really expensive and we need lots of it. But then again, I’m getting it at a very good deal and we’re actually going to be talking to wholesalers soon.
My gofundme has done really well but I haven’t made more money on it in a very long time so the money is drying up. I have to cover my gas as well. A lot of my volunteers tell me there’s no need to pay for their gas or anything. So that’s amazing! But because of the amount that I drive, I do need money for gas.
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